Privacy Policy - Monument Removals

Last updated: This Privacy Policy explains how Monument Removals collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing services to customers in the area. It applies to all Monument Removals customers in area, including individuals who enquire about our services, request a quotation, make a booking, or receive monument removal services from us.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This Privacy Policy is intended to help you understand what information we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and what rights you have in relation to your personal data.

1. Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for the provision of our services, customer administration, legal compliance, and legitimate business operations. The categories of data we may collect include:

Identity details: name, title, and any information you provide when making an enquiry or booking.
Contact details: address, email address, telephone number, and any preferred means of communication.
Service information: details about the monument removal work requested, property or site location, and any instructions relevant to carrying out the service safely and appropriately.
Billing and payment data: invoicing details, payment status, and transaction records.
Communication records: correspondence by phone, email, or other communication channels, including queries, complaints, and service updates.
Technical information: limited information such as device, browser, and usage data if you interact with digital services or forms we use for administration.
Legal and compliance information: data required to satisfy insurance, tax, accounting, health and safety, or record-keeping obligations.

We do not seek to collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and you choose to provide it, or we are required to process it for a lawful purpose. If such data is inadvertently shared with us, we will process it only where permitted by law and with appropriate safeguards.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to arrange, deliver, and manage monument removal services;
to communicate with customers about appointments, scheduling, access, and service requirements;
to issue invoices, process payments, and maintain financial records;
to comply with legal, regulatory, accounting, and insurance obligations;
to improve our services, operations, and customer experience;
to handle complaints, disputes, and requests for support;
to protect our business, staff, clients, and property from fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We will only use your personal data for the purposes described above or for compatible purposes where permitted by law. We do not sell personal data.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for each processing activity. Monument Removals relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotations, confirming bookings, carrying out monument removal work, and managing related customer administration.

Legal Obligation

We may process data to comply with legal obligations, including tax, accounting, health and safety, insurance, and record retention requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process certain information where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided that those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing enquiries, maintaining service records, improving operations, preventing fraud, and protecting our business interests. We carry out a balancing assessment where required.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where it is required for a specific optional activity. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

4. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including meeting legal, accounting, insurance, and reporting obligations. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Customer and service records: retained for the duration of the service relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards to handle queries, complaints, or follow-up matters.
Financial records: retained in line with applicable tax and accounting requirements.
Communication records: retained for as long as needed to manage the customer relationship and resolve issues.
Legal and insurance records: retained where necessary to defend or establish legal claims, manage risk, or satisfy insurance requirements.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or otherwise dispose of it in a safe and lawful manner.

5. Processors and Data Sharing

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors on our behalf, or with independent controllers where required by law or necessary for the service. Any processor we use is required to process personal data only on our instructions, keep it secure, and comply with applicable data protection law.

Examples of processors or service providers may include:

IT and cloud storage providers;
email, communications, and customer administration tools;
accounting and bookkeeping providers;
payment processing services;
professional advisers such as insurers, auditors, or legal advisers;
subcontractors or operational partners involved in delivering the service, where necessary.

We may also disclose personal data to public authorities, regulators, law enforcement, or courts where required by law or where necessary to protect our legal rights. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with data protection law.

6. Security of Personal Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures are designed to reflect the nature of the data and the risks involved. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to protect information using reasonable and proportionate safeguards.

We expect all staff and processors to treat personal data with care and confidentiality.

7. Your Rights

Depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for processing, you may have the following rights under data protection law:

Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: to request deletion of your data in certain situations.
Right to restriction: to request that we limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing where applicable.
Right to data portability: to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to complain to the relevant data protection authority if you believe your rights have been infringed. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve any concern promptly and fairly.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adult customers and organisations arranging monument removal services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is provided incidentally in the course of service administration and only where lawful and necessary.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or data protection practices. Any changes will take effect when posted in an updated form. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle personal data.

10. Summary of Our Commitment

Monument Removals is committed to processing personal data responsibly and in line with the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity, and confidentiality. We only collect what we need, use it for legitimate and clearly defined purposes, keep it for no longer than necessary, and respect your rights throughout the lifecycle of your data.

By using our services or providing your information to us, you acknowledge that this Privacy Policy applies to all Monument Removals customers in area.